Battle of Pinnacle Valley
The Battle of Pinnacle Valley A Day of Action: 28-29th January It was on this day that the second major battle of the TWC PvP server commenced, a battle which will later be known as the battle of Pinnacle Valley. Note that this was written by a Master of the Order, but as far as we are aware it's accurate. The language used will inevitably favour the Order though... and with good reason! Part the first- Justice being chased by benz282. He is later killed]] Three Masters and a Knight of the Order of Dalmaitus had recently received communication from the Imperial Legionnaires, requesting an exchange of goodwill. As a result, The Masters decided to pay them an unexpected visit. The Legionnaires were however informed as soon as their lands were in sight, and we were allowed to observe the day-to day activities of the Legion. It was at this point that he known as 10greenbottles arrived at the scene. An unprovoked attack on Benz was made by archery, and initially, the Masters were not sure how to proceed, knowing retaliation could well lead to full on warfare. However, it was quickly decided that 10greenbottles would be given his penance, not only for the unprovoked attack on a Master of the Order, but also his disregard for those carrying the flag of the messenger and therefore respect for the enemy, as seen by the cold-blooded murder of Belisarius. And so he received it as benz's blade cleaved his skull atwain while he attempted to make good his escape. Justice had been served. The Masters then returned to their abode, along with a definite sense of accomplishment. However, it was then that they realised a grave mistake had been made: A declaration of war had been made on the Order by MotN and so Benz returned the sentiment in a sealed letter. What he had not realised however, were the long term implications of this, and was only made aware of this following cries despair coming from Mage's direction. A war was never the intention of the Order, but it was too late to go back. So preparations were made, men were equipped, and the Order returned to Pinnacle Valley. Part the second- the ambush Upon arriving at the Legionnaires fortress which overlooked the valley, all seemed normal. Then a Dwarf strolled into the castle. Mage had never seen one of these strange folk before, having heard many a tale about them, and alone went to exchange greetings. And it was then the unthinkable happened. While the Master was distracted by the dwarf, the Men of the North emerged from the trees and Mage was caught completely unawares from behind. In an attempt to save himself and regroup, he found himself caught up in branches, and was ingloriously cut down. The three MotN then went on to hunt down the rest of the Order present- this would prove to be a mistake. While they managed to end the life of Master BlenderFrog, Sir Skivvies, a Knight of the Order, soon encountered them, and promptly disembowelled 10greenbottles, followed by Cahoma. In awe of the young knights abilities, Abbews made quick her escape and proved to be untraceable. Although losses on both sides were equal, the MotN were driven off, and the Order remained to watch the night. The night was long, and the action was little so as dawn broke, the Order began the long journey back home. During this journey, it was decided upon that Knight Skivvies would be promoted to Blademaster Skivvies, to commend his fighting prowess. Part the third- the Pinnacle It was not long before cries arose from the legionnaires camp; the Northmen had returned and taken a strong defensive position at the top of Pinnacle Fort, in the center of the Legion's base. Four Northmen were present, them being Abbews, Greens, Cahoma and Patrick, and they opened fire on the combined force of Legionaries and Knights of the Order. The battle lines were drawn; the Northmen at the top of Pinnacle Fort, and the besiegers encamped below. Never before has such ineptitude with a bow been witnessed- of five shots against a stationary target who was in chat, none struck true. Arrows were also fired from below by the Legionnaires and Blademaster Skivvies, to create time for the Masters to come up with a plan, and the course of action decided upon would be to take the Pinnacle by storm using the array of potions available to the Order. Benz constructed ladders for use in the siege which were laid against the tower, and then ascended to confront the barbarians in order to cast them from the top. This plan was thwarted by a fluke arrow from Greens, which caused Benz to lose his hold and he thereby plummeted into the abyss. A similar approach was devised by Master Mage, except using an internal staircase to prevent the Benz's fate occurring to him. Cruelly, just as he reached level ground with the four opponents, the wicked dark magic applied to one of the enemies swords (also known as Knockback II) flung him from the keep, and he too plummeted to his death. It became clear that the enemy had a very strong position, and the remaining Knights thought it best to withdraw to a safe distance. It was now that Men of the North had a chance to win the battle, but for some reason unbeknownst to the Order, they chose not to. While they did sally forth from their tower, it was only to take another defensive position on a nearby hill. Perhaps their Northman willpower is weaker than any other? Once can only presume. Nonetheless, disquiet did break through the Order ranks present, and they withdrew further, just as Mage broke through the tree line with nought but two potions on his person, to cover the withdrawing others. Again, he was very short lived, and was cut down by the sword of Abbews. Part the fourth- the finale Finally, Benz made his move. This prompted a circling manoeuvre from both parties, and eventually both sides swapped place, though Benz didn't stop there. Instead, he moved to take the keep. Knowing that reinforcements were en route (Skivvies and BlenderFrog had gone to resupply). The Northmen spotted this move, but not before Benz had blocked up the stairwell with wooden planks, and so 10greenbottles attempted the same manoeuvre tried by Benz beforehand- climbing up the ladder on the side of the pinnacle. While climbing, Greens shoots an arrow at Benz, but misses- this was to be a fatal error. Benz was armed with a bow, but had no arrows until now, as thanks to Greens' poor shooting, he had just picked one up. Fire was returned, and Greens fell to his dreary demise. With Greens dealt with, and the others nearly upon him, Benz flung himself from the keep into the water and made haste away from the three.While this was happening, BlenderFrog and Skivvies had returned from their resupply and encountered a Northman on the outskirts of the wood from which they emerged. He was quickly dealt with. They then made their way throught the Fort and out of the gates, onto the bridge that linked Fort Pinnacle and the Pinnacle itself. It was here that the four remaining Northmen were stood, having watched the fall of Benz into the water. Surprised by the sudden re-appearance of Blender and Skivvies, a brief battle ensued over the narrow bridge. Benz, seeing what was going on decided to assist by attacking the three from the other side of the bridge. The three were trapped for a short while until patrickS chased benz off and opened the way out again. Even so, one of the three was killed by BlenderFrog and the remaining two decided to tun tail and flee, in order to regroup a few minutes later. PatrickS did not make it, being cut down by Skivvies and Benz's death avenged. The counterattack by the two remaining Northmen was brief however, and was brought to an end at the bottom of the valley by BlenderFrog alone. PatrickS who had returned to the battle was now alone with no armour, perhaps hoping to collect the loot left from the corpses of the defeated Order. This was not the case; upon seeing Order members alive and kicking, and BlenderFrog stood proud upon the bridge he took the only course of action he knew- to turn tail and weep alone... It was a decisive victory for the Order. It entered the battle with iron armour, and left with diamond aplenty. The Northmen were visibly weakened, and were in no position to continue the war. It was fortunate for them that the Order of Dalmaitus saw fit to offer peace, seeing no benefit to continuation of the war. And of course the Northmen accepted, and a white peace was declared